Inventory device for packaged items

ABSTRACT

The inventory device comprises a shelf adapted to support a plurality of rows of packaged items, each row extending from front to rear of the shelf, upstanding pins on the front of the shelf approximately centered before each row, each pin being adapted to receive a sales slip for each item sold, so that when an item is removed the total of the remaining items in the row and the sales slips on the pin associated with that row should equal the original total number of items and thus provides a ready indication of theft by sales personnel, or others.

[ 51 Dec. 23, 1975 United States Patent [1 1 Gatewood, Jr.

INVENTORY DEVICE FOR PACKAGED 5 .H 42 1 2 2 m TM "I m w W m a mmuTm n" moo Tm .SS n nnkn 83 BHHFC 66 8 56676 99999 11111 l/l/l 95506 m. d ,M r m 0 mm H WM RB a v e mA m m m h S m M n e v m n .1 l. .l 4 6 5 7 Primary Examiner-Paul R. gilliam [22] Med 1973 Assistant Examiner-Carl F. Pietruszka [21] Appl. No.: 429,675

[57] ABSTRACT The inventory device comprises a shelf adapted t 0 support a plurality of rows of packaged items, each row extending from front to rear of the she] [52] US. Cl. 312/234; 211/57; 248/295; 312/234.5 A47B 81/00; B42F 21/00 f, upstand- 51 Int. 581 Field of 312/234-2345, s P on the from of the shelf approximately tered before each row, each pin being adapted to re- 303; 40/3 0; 402/4 79 ceive a sales slip for each item said, so that when an item is removed the total of the remaining items in the row and the sales slips on the pin associated with that row should equal the original total number of items [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS and thus provides a ready indication of theft by sales a r u .m F g .m w m 6 n m o C r 6 o d n m WXX U% ma H mm 11/1915 Nicholas M 73 2s 99 N3 566 5 9 20 633 J5 1.1

US. Patent Dec. 23, 1975 Sheet 1 of2 3,927,922

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US. Patent Dec. 23, 1975 Sheet 2 on 3,927,922

fl/ m G 4 2 i 2 F INVENTORY DEVICE FOR PACKAGED ITEMS This invention relates to an inventory device for packaged items to be sold.

It is well recognized that there are certain types of stores wherein the proprietors have a great deal of difficulty in preventing theft primarily by his employees, and secondarily by customers. Such stores include liquor stores, wherein the price of each packaged item is relatively high, and self-service stores, wherein the packaged goods are displayed on counters and the customers pick up the items they desire to purchase and take them to a check-out point at which the sale is recorded on a register and consummated.

The present invention offers a ready and quick means for maintaining a constant inventory and thereby discouraging theft either by sales persons, or customers.

With the above in mind, the present invention provides a simple apparatus, for maintaining a constant inventory, which is in the form of a pin mounted on the shelf supporting the packaged items displayed for sale. A plurality of pins may be used and the packaged items are mounted in rows, one behind each pin. Preferably, the shelf is formed of a size to receive a predetermined number of items for sale in a row from front to rear, and the pin is adapted to impale, or otherwise received a sales slip for each item removed from the row and sold. Thus, the remaining items in the row when added to the number of sales slips impaled on the pin in front of the row should equal said predetermined number, and the described apparatus provides means for taking inventory at any time the proprietor desires to ascertain whether all of the original items for sale are still present, or if not, whether there is a sales slip present for each one which has been sold. This ability to inventory quickly at any time is a great deterrent against sales personnel pocketing the proceeds of sales, and, to prevent accusation of theft against sales personnel, promotes more careful observation by said personnel of the customers to ensure that the customers pay for each item removed from the shelf.

From the above it will be apparent that it is a primary object of the present invention to provide an inventory device which enables the taking of inventory at any time and yields the ability to readily count the items sold and the items remaining of any given type so as to deter theft of the items, or the monies received for sale of such items.

It is a further object of the invention to provide an inventory device, having the above described characteristics, which is of simple construction, easy to fabricate and easy to install and, therefore, very economical to make and use.

The novel features that are considered characteristic of the invention are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. The invention, itself, however, both as to its organization and its method of operation, together with additional objects and advantages thereof, will best be understood from the following description of specific embodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference characters indicate like parts throughout the several Figures, and in which:

FIG. I is a perspective view ofthe inventory device as incorporated in a shelf member adapted to support a plurality of bottles of liquor for sale;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line 2-2 of FIG. 1, and looking in the direction of the arrows;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view similar to FIG. I, but of another embodiment of the invention wherein the packaged goods are of varying sizes;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line 44 of FIG. 3, and looking in the direction of the arrows;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged sectional view taken along line 55 of FIG. 4, looking in the direction of the arrows; and

FIG. 6 is a further enlarged sectional view taken along line 6-6 of FIG. 5, and looking in the direction of the arrows.

Referring now to the drawings, and more particularly to FIGS. 1 and 2, the invention is illustrated as embodying a shelf member I0 supporting a number of liquor bottles 12 displayed for sale in a liquor store. The shelf member 10 is, in the exemplified embodiment, incorporated in a fixture having vertical partitions, one of which is partly shown at 14, and a rear wall 16. The liquor bottles of a given size and brand, or type, are preferably aligned in a row from front and rear of the shelf 10 and a predetermined number of bottles is thereby housed in each row from the front of the shelf 10 to the rear wall 16 depending upon the size and shape of each bottle. As illustrated in FIG. 2, the upper shelf supports nine bottles 12 as the predetermined inventory number for the illustrated row. In the lower shelf one of the nine bottles has been removed, or sold, leaving eight bottles in the row.

At the front of each row there is mounted a shelf 10 an upstanding pin 20 which is preferably aligned with the center of the front bottle of the row with which the pin is associated. Pins 20 may be pointed at the top for impaling a sales slip thereon each time a bottle is removed and sold from the line of bottles with which the pin is associated. Alternatively, the sales slips 22 may be pre-punehed with apertures 24 so that they may be more readily hung on the pins.

At the front edge of the shelf member 10 is a fixed elongated strip of channel 26 which is adapted to slidably receive pricing tags 28, each of which may be moved to align with the row of bottles to which it aplies.

p In use of the inventory device as described above, the proprietor of the liquor store will require that his sales personnel must impale, or hang, a ticket from the sales register on the appropriate pin 20 for each bottle of liquor sold and removed from the row of bottles associated with that pin. In this manner, since the sales tickets are not removed until the shelves are refilled, the pro prietor can, at any moment, quickly determine the number of bottles of liquor sold of each type by visual observation of the row in which such bottles are dis played and by then counting the number of sales tickets hung on the pin, or pins, for the rows involved to further determine that a sales ticket has been rung up for each missing bottle. For example, the upper shelf in FIG. 2 contains its full quota of bottles, i.e., nine, and there are no sales tickets on the associated pin 20. The fact that none of these bottles has been sold is readily apparent both from lack of the sales tickets and the fullness of the row of bottlesv However, when one bottle 12 has been sold and removed, as illustrated in the lower row in FIG. 2, it is readily observed that one sales ticket 22 is held on the associated pin 20 and, accordingly, it is apparent that the sale has been properly registered in the cash register.

The described ease of taking inventory by merely noting partly empty rows and then ascertaining that the appropriate number of sales tickets have been placed at the front of said rows, is a very definite deterrent to sales persons attempting to give away bottles without payment, or selling bottles and pocketing the payments without registering the same.

The proprietor is further afforded a check on the amount of money registered by multiplying the various sales tickets by the sale prices of the associated bottles as indicated by the card 28 under the respective pin and row of liquor bottles, and this total should equal the total registered in the cash registor, thereby providing an indication of theft of money from the cash register after sales have been rung up.

Since sales persons will wish to avoid accusation of theft, and the present inventory device enables the proprietor, at any time, to quickly ascertain that theft has occurred, the sales persons will bend their utmost efforts to prevent customers from taking bottles from the inventory without payment therefor.

A modified embodiment of the inventory device adapted for use in selling packaged items of varying widths or sizes, as in a drugstore or grocery store as distinguished from a liquor store, is illustrated in FIGS. 3 6. In this embodiment the packaged items are numbered with the same reference numeral 30, although they vary in size. Each type ofitem having the same size is supported on shelf in a row extending from front to back. To accommodate for the differences in widths of the various rows, a plurality of slidable pins 32 are mounted at the front of the shelf in such manner that each pin cam be unclamped, moved laterally of the shelf to approximately the center of a row of packaged articles and reclamped in this position. In this manner a different type of article can be placed in a given row, whenever desired, by removing the previous article and the associated pin centered, with respect to the new row, quickly and easily.

The clamping mechanism for pins 32 comprises an elongated base support member 34 seated in an elongated groove 36 in the top surface of shelf 10 at its forward portion. The upper surface of the support 34 is provided with a groove 38 which may extend for its full length. Seated in spaced recesses in the bottom of groove 38 are a plurality of coil springs 40 which support a follower strip 42. A cover member 44 is secured by screws 46 to the top surface of the support member 34. The cover member has an elongated slot 48 therein centered over the groove 38 and extending for the full length of the latter. Each pin 32 has a head 50 which is clamped between the underside of the cover member 44 and the upper side of the follower strip 42, the stem of the pin extending through the slot 48. It will be readily apparent that each pin 32, clamped in the described manner, is held in place by the force of the resilient coils 40 pressing against the underside of the follower plate 42. To move a pin laterally of the shelf and longitudinally of the slot 48, it is only necessary to grasp the pin 32 by its stem and press downwardly slightly so as to release the clamping pressure of the follower strip 42 and then to slide the pin along slot 48 to the desired new position, at which time release of the downward pressure serves to reclamp the pin in the new position under pressure of the coils 40 and the follower strip 42.

The embodiment of H65. 3 6, as described above, is used in the same manner as described for the embodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2, a sales slip being placed on the appropriate pin 32 each time an article is removed from the row on the shelf in back of that pin. When the inventory on a shelf in a given row is depleted by sale, or for other reasons, and it is desired to place a different item in the same row on the shelfthis can usually be done and the appropriate pin 32 can then be moved laterally of the shelf in one direction, or the other, to center on the new row of items. Obviously, additional pins may be added, if necessary, through the open ends of groove 38 and slot 48. Similarly, unneeded pins may be as easily removed.

Although certain specific embodiments of the invention have been shown and described, it is obvious that many modifications thereof are possible. The invention, therefore, is not intended to be restricted to the exact showing of the drawings and description thereof, but is considered to include reasonable and obvious equivalents.

What is claimed is:

I. An inventory device for packaged items to be sold, including heavy and bulky items, comprising in combination, a generally horizontal, flat, shelf member forming a supporting seat for a designated number of packaged items to be held in a row on said shelf member from front to rear thereof, and an upstanding, straight pin secured to the front of said shelf substantially in alignment with the packaged items when seated on the shelf member, said pin being adapted to impale and hold a sales slip for each packaged item when it is sold and removed from the row on the shelf member, whereby a count of the sales slips on the pin and the remaining items in the row on the shelf member should total said designated number and yield a quick determination of theft when the total is less than the designated number.

2. An inventory device as recited in claim I wherein said pin is disposed vertically and has a point at its top.

3. An inventory device as recited in claim 2, wherein said pin is adjustably secured on the shelf member so that it may be moved laterally thereof to align with the center of the row of packaged items.

4. An inventory device as recited in claim 2, wherein said shelf member is elongated laterally to accommodate a plurality of said rows of packaged items in sideby-side relation, there being a plurality of said pins secured at the front of the shelf member, each pin being approximately centered with respect .to one of said rows.

5. An inventory device as recited in claim 4, wherein each said pin is adjustably secured on the shelf member so that it may be moved laterally thereof to align with the center of the row of packaged items with which it is associated.

6. An inventory device as recited in claim 5, wherein each pin includes a substantially flat head at its base, there being a laterally elongated support for the plurality of pins mounted on the shelf member, said support comprising a groove in its upper surface extending lengthwise of the support and laterally of the shelf member, a cover for said groove having an elongated slot extending parallel to the groove, a plurality of spaced resilient members seated in the bottom of the groove and upon which is supported a follower strip, said pins having their heads seated on said follower strip and extending upwardly through said slot, whereby each pin may be slid laterally of the shelf member by pressing the pin downwardly against the clamp the pin in its new position. 

1. An inventory device for packaged items to be sold, including heavy and bulky items, comprising in combination, a generally horizontal, flat, shelf member forming a supporting seat for a designated number of packaged items to be held in a row on said shelf member from front to rear thereof, and an upstanding, straight pin secured to the front of said shelf substantially in alignment with the packaged items when seated on the shelf member, said pin being adapted to impale and hold a sales slip for each packaged item when it is sold and removed from the row on the shelf member, whereby a count of the sales slips on the pin and the remaining items in the row on the shelf member should total said designated number and yield a quick determination of theft when the total is less than the designated number.
 2. An inventory device as recited in claim 1 wherein said pin is disposed vertically and has a point at its top.
 3. An inventory device as recited in claim 2, wherein said pin is adjustably secured on the shelf member so that it may be moved laterally thereof to align with the center of the row of packaged items.
 4. An inventory device as recited in claim 2, wherein said shelf member is elongated laterally to accommodate a plurality of said rows of packaged items in side-by-side relation, there being a plurality of said pins secured at the front of the shelf member, each pin being approximately centered with respect to one of said rows.
 5. An inventory device as recited in claim 4, wherein each said pin is adjustably secured on the shelf member so that it may be moved laterally thereof to align with the center of the row of packaged items with which it is associated.
 6. An inventory device as recited in claim 5, wherein each pin includes a substantially flat head at its base, there being a laterally elongated support for the plurality of pins mounted on the shelf member, said support comprising a groove in its upper surface extending lengthwise of the support and laterally of the shelf member, a cover for said groove having an elongated slot extending parallel to the groove, a plurality of spaced resilient members seated in the bottom of the groove and upon which is supported a follower strip, said pins having their heads seated on said follower strip and extending upwardly through said slot, whereby each pin may be slid laterally of the shelf member by pressing the pin downwardly against the force of said resilient members and moving it to an adjusted position, release of said pressure serving to clamp the pin in its new position. 